Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus pushed back Sunday on ABC News against political strategist and former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Donna Brazile over her defense of President Joe Biden’s claim that he would have won the 2024 presidential race if he hadn’t withdrawn.
In a recent interview with USA Today, Biden said that while it would be “presumptuous to say” he could have won the 2024 election, “based on the polling” he received, he believes he could have beat Trump. On ABC’s “This Week,” co-host Jonathan Karl questioned Brazile over Biden’s response to the general election, noting how Biden has repeatedly claimed he would have beat President-elect Donald Trump.
“Let me just set the table right. Joe Biden thought he could win because after his debate performance, he received polling that showed that he wasn’t sliding. That the things had stalled, but that he still had a chance. Look, it was 24 of the most agonizing days, I think, in Democratic Party history until the president made the decision to step back … because we had no playbook,” Brazile said.
“Look, Joe Biden thought because he had beaten Trump before in 2020 that he had the playbook to win. I don’t think so. I think before he answered that question in the interview with Susan Page, Susan asked him about a similar situation, about the Democrats losing so much. He said there were global issues. I mean, across the world — ” Brazile added as Priebus could be heard sighing.
Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential race on July 21, 2024, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the next nominee. His departure came shortly after a poor debate performance against President-elect Donald Trump, where he struggled to finish his arguments and even froze mid-statement.
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Post-debate polls showed a lack of confidence in the president, with Democrats, political pundits, and donors all pressing for Biden to end his 2024 presidential campaign. Brazile went on to point to Canada, Germany, and France, stating that her “bottom line” was she believed Harris did “a damn good job given the odds.”
“He also said in that statement before that clip that Kamala Harris could have won. Someone needs to remind him that she did, in fact, run. She got killed,” Priebus responded. “He was having problems well before that debate. I mean he crashed that debate. No doubt about it. But, you know, it’s just, again, illustrating the fact that Joe Biden has been living on Fantasy Island, where Biden’s fantasies come true.”
“It’s been going on for years. This is nothing new. People have been talking about it. He waited too long. He did, in fact, crush the Democrat Party. But Donald Trump would have smoked Joe Biden in the most unbelievable fashion,” Priebus said.
Brazile immediately pushed back on Priebus, stating he wasn’t able to make the claim due to the country still being “divided.”
“We don’t know that, the country’s still divided. We don’t know that,” Brazile said. “He didn’t even smoke Kamala Harris.”
“Oh come on! He was bleeding everywhere. He’s at 36% approval now. You’d think he’d have a little bump after, you know, nothing,” Priebus hit back.
Trump beat Harris in November in both the Electoral College and among the popular vote. Election results showed Trump not only gained 2.5 million more votes than in 2020, but hit Democrats’ hold on certain parts of the electorate, as Harris earned 7 million fewer votes than Biden in the 2020 race, according to The New York Times.
With Biden leaving office in less than ten days, polls show he is expected to be leaving with only a 36.2% approval rating and a 56.6% disapproval rating, according to average data gathered by FiveThirtyEight.
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